


Santa Baby

by LaurelNymph



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Manga Spoilers, Minor Angst, Original Character Death(s), ererisecretsanta2k17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 15:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13126464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurelNymph/pseuds/LaurelNymph
Summary: After months away from home, Eren was eager to return. It was when he was at his front door that he heard an unbelievable sound coming from inside his house."Waaaah!"Was that... a baby?





	Santa Baby

**Author's Note:**

> My secret santa fill for omglevixeren! The prompt was: canonverse au EreRi where eren and levi adopt a child. bonus if the fic addresses recent events that have happened in the manga.
> 
> Spoilers ahead!

The sea was quickly becoming unbearably cold.

Armin and Eren’s titan forms were lasting less and less in the frigid water as winter descended on Paradis. Few ships made their way into the bay now with rough winter water posing a greater risk than the two guardians waiting to destroy any ship that came close. This last fleet hadn’t even made it within a kilometer of the island before turning back.

A burst of blue smoke suddenly streaked across the sky. An order to retreat.

“I think we’re safe for the rest of winter,” Hange said, peering through their spyglass as Armin and Eren emerged from their titans. “I don’t see any more.”

Mikasa wrapped the two shivering men in thick blankets as soon as they reached the shore. Back at camp, they slowly warmed up next to fire.

In the last four years, a lot had changed. The Survey Corps headquarters had relocated from Trost to the reclaimed Shiganshina barracks, but a smaller camp had been set up by the sea to man the south shore defense. Eren, Armin, and a small group of dedicated soldiers spent long stretches of time there. Even during the seasons Marley never tried to attack, scouts were always keeping an eye on the horizon for more invaders.

“Good work, boys!” Hange announced as they joined the two shifters next to the fire. “We’re pretty sure that was the last of them. If we don’t see anything else for the rest of the week, you can head on home.”

That last bit warmed Eren up more than the fire or the soup Mikasa was cajoling him to eat.

Home. There was another thing that had changed since they had reclaimed Wall Maria five years earlier. That change was one he was very eager to see after two lonely months at the shore.

* * *

Throughout the next week, Eren watched the horizon obsessively. He borrowed Armin’s spyglass so many times Armin finally told him, “Keep it, Eren.”

He couldn’t help being eager to go home. For the first time since he was ten, Eren _had_ a home to go back to, and someone waiting there for him. As soon as Hange announced, “You can head home,” he was already dashing off to get his horse saddled, Jean’s teasing be damned.

The only moment Eren stopped on the entire way home was when he heard an unbelievable sound.

_“Waaaaah!”_

There was no mistaking it: that was a baby crying. There were more settlers in Shiganshina now, but it was still rare to have small children there. What was even stranger was that the crying was coming from inside Eren and Levi’s home. Levi didn’t like to entertain so it surprised Eren that he had visitors over. He entered the house expecting to see friends showing off a new baby.

Instead, he saw a mess.

Eren’s palms immediately went sweaty. Levi never left the house like _this_. The hallway floor was covered in muddy footprints. There were dirty rags left on the kitchen counters. The chairs weren’t pushed in at the dining table. To top it all off, the wailing sound was still going strong. Something was terribly wrong.

He had no idea he’d been running until he was out of breath and hanging onto the doorjamb of their bedroom for support. Inside, Levi was pacing alone with a small, sobbing newborn in his arms. There were dozens of questions buzzing through Eren’s head but one look at Levi’s harried face told him he wasn’t going to hear any answers right away. Wordlessly, he took the baby from Levi’s arms.

A lot of his memories of her had faded, but Eren still remembered how his mother had rocked the babies that came into their home for medical care. His clumsy attempts at recreating her motions somehow worked. Eren placed the child into the crib now standing in their bedroom once the crying had stopped.

His hope for answers were dashed when he turned around and saw Levi passed out on their bed. His shirt had stains on it and he obviously hadn’t shaved in weeks.

“What’s going on with you?” Eren murmured, brushing Levi’s hair away from his face. He didn’t even stir. Eren gently slid a pillow under Levi’s head and threw a blanket on top of him. Answers would have to wait. It was all he could do for now.

That, and clean.

* * *

The house had been dusted and mopped, and the dirty laundry gathered, by the time Eren’s cleaning was interrupted by a clattering sound. Levi, and two buckets of water connected by a yoke, had appeared next to him.

“We’re gonna need a fuckton of water for all that laundry.”

Given that the pile seemed to contain every scrap of cloth in their entire home, he wasn’t wrong. Levi reached into the enormous laundry pile and started helping sort out the white linens. Eren looked over at their clock curiously.

It had been three hours. In all the years he’d known Levi and lived with him, “I’ve never seen you sleep this long before.”

“I’ve never taken care of a newborn alone before.”

True.

Eren barely had the chance to open his mouth to ask the obvious question when Levi cut him off.

“Lena’s dead.”

Levi’s face was perfectly blank, but Eren knew he had to be crushed. Among the Underground children in Historia’s orphanage, Levi had become protective over the oldest, Lena. She charmed everyone around her with her gentle personality and long, raven hair. She was recently married, about to have a baby, and had chosen Levi as the godfather.

The dots were simple enough to connect; still, Eren hadn’t expected the answers to his questions to be so painful. Up until that moment, he’d still been thinking that Levi had been babysitting, not that he’d become a guardian. The laundry in his arms dropped to the floor as he rushed to embrace Levi.

Eren knew he wasn’t good with words. This was the only way he could express how sorry he was for the terrible loss his partner had suffered. It was slight, but Eren swore Levi leaned into him. He squeezed harder.

After a few moments, he felt Levi shift away. “We need to get the laundry started before he wakes up again.”

Levi picked the buckets back up and started pouring the water into the washtub, leaving preparing the fire underneath to Eren.

“Tell me how it went by the shore.” Levi was focusing too hard on the pouring and Eren felt a little glimmer of happiness shine through. He was never going to get over how cute Levi was when he was being bashful. Eren knew what he really meant was, “I was worried about you.”

“Defense was fine,” Eren said, throwing a lit match into the kindling. There weren’t any ships out there that were a match for titans. He started added clothes to the water and noticed that Levi’s shoulders were still stiff. More than anything, Eren wanted to see him relax again. He could only imagine the shit Levi had been dealing with, alone, and he wanted to do something that would cheer him up, even a little.

“We found this eight-legged thing Armin called an ‘octopus’ in the tide pools. It wrapped its legs around Armin’s arm and wouldn’t let go. Jean had to pull it off him. And when he did, it squirted this black stuff in his face! Jean had stains all over himself for days.”

The look on Levi’s face was priceless, at the same time looking amused at Jean’s misfortune and horrified at the thought of getting mystery crap on his face. It was better than the blank look from earlier. Levi shivered before tossing the soiled baby gown he was holding into the water.

“I never thought I’d be glad these are only puke stains.”

“I can get them out.” Eren was confident of that. He’d spent enough time on Squad Levi to pick up some tricks on stains.

“That’s why you’re my favorite.”

 _Oh_. Now he was the bashful one. Levi knew what praise like that did to him. But with the laundry pile still almost two meters tall, it wasn’t the time. Eren started chucking clothes in the washtub trying to put it out of his mind while Levi left to go get more water.

The wash water was just starting to boil when once again Eren heard, “ _Waaah!_ ”

“Dinnertime.” Eren jumped, not realizing that Levi was already back. “Can you start warming milk for our son? I’ll change him.”

The full jar of soap in Eren’s hands crashed straight down into the washtub. Warmth flooded his whole chest. He hadn’t been expecting _that_. There was a baby in the house and his husband was that baby’s father, that he knew; but it hadn’t dawned on Eren yet that _he was a father now too_. It was a blessing he never thought he’d have knowing how becoming a shifter had eaten away at his lifetime. So much of the life he had lived was spent lost without a family and now here he was, a husband and a father, in his own home. It felt unreal.

“Waaah!”

The fresh burst of crying jolted Eren back into action. His son needed to eat. More clothes went into the tub (along with the ridiculous amount of soap he’d just spilled), then he headed for the cellar. With how much Levi liked Eren’s hot cocoa, he had had plenty of practice warming up milk. It was just about done when he heard Levi entering the kitchen.

“Here’s your milk!”

Silence

From Levi, anyway. The baby in Levi’s arms was still whimpering. When Eren turned around, there was an intense look on his husband’s face that he didn’t understand.

“Is everything okay?”

“Just thinking that this is a hell of a lot easier with two parents.”

Eren wished he had been there from the start. He felt terrible that Levi had been taking care of the baby all alone. He vowed silently to be there for them every second he could be from now on. “Where do you want the milk?”

“The bottle in that cabinet.”

Inside, Eren found an earthenware jug. Instead of being at the top, the teat-shaped spout was located at the bottom of the jug for the baby to suckle on. Eren covered the spout while he filled it, then brought it over to where Levi had sat down. Once he started to feed the baby, Eren found himself barely able to breathe. Levi had the baby cradled in one arm while he held the bottle with the other. The baby was smiling up at his father as he drank. The look on Levi’s face was so gentle and loving Eren’s knees went weak.

He sat down next to Levi to watch his husband lovingly feed their child. The baby had already fallen back asleep when a thought struck Eren: “Hey, you haven’t introduced me to our son.”

It felt so good to say “our son.”

“His name is Luca. He’s two months old.”

“He’s so cute.” He was small and pale, with a thin, soft layer of brown hair. His big eyes were blue and alert. There hadn’t been time to notice it with all of the chaos earlier, but Luca was a beautiful baby. The two new parents sat there in peace, watching Luca sleeping. “Can I hold him?”

Eren had already held Luca once, but that was before he knew that this baby was his son. He hadn’t appreciated it the first time. When Levi placed their baby in his arms, it felt completely different than before, holding this small, precious person. Eren’s eyes were tearing up and he felt a renewed passion to crush their enemy so that Luca could grow up safe on Paradis Island. He would do anything to make it happen.

“ _Un_.”

Luca was starting to fuss. Uh oh. Could babies sense bloodlust? Had Eren scared him? Luca was fully awake now and had a suspicious look on his face that stabbed Eren in the heart.

“Don’t be that way,” Levi scolded, leaning in closer to the baby. “That’s your other Dad.”

Slowly, the grumpy look on Luca’s face slipped away and he fell back asleep. Eren was deeply touched that he had put so much trust in him. That was a rare feeling. He was far more used to being feared. Becoming a father was incredible. He reveled in the moment.

“Eren, let me put him back in his crib, we’ve still got chores to do.”

Indeed they did.

In between more feedings and diaper changes, Eren and Levi finished cleaning the house, washed all the dishes piled up in the sink, and did six loads of laundry. Their backyard looked like a swarm of ghosts were descending on the house with how many things were clipped to their clothesline.

“It’s too late to do any grocery shopping, that’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Levi declared after they clipped the last sheet to the line. By now the sun had almost set; Eren could barely see Levi it was getting so dim. The market would have wrapped up hours ago. That left only, “Let’s go to bed.”

Eren perked up.

“After I take a bath. You too. And Luca.”

A fair compromise. They were both sweaty after a day spent catching up on two months of chores.

“Do you always bathe Luca at night?” Eren asked as he drew the bath, grateful that they at least had running water in the bathroom. There was another smaller tub next to his and Levi’s. Assuming it was for Luca’s bath, Eren filled it with water first. He wanted to learn everything about caring for their baby that he could.

“Yeah. We both usually get covered in shit during the day, so it’s easier to clean him when we’re about to go down for the night. I bathe him first because he’s pissed on me before during his bath.”

There was no way he could hear that and not laugh. No one could. Even after getting a withering look from Levi, Eren was having trouble choking down his laughter. “What do… What do you want me to do?”

Levi thought about it as he began undressing Luca.

“Just take your bath. I don’t mind doing this.”

Which made sense. Levi did like cleaning things. Babies too, apparently. Eren wanted to protest a little—he really did want to start pulling his weight with Luca—but then Levi actually smiled when Luca giggled at being dipped in the water. Eren recognized that this was a special moment for the two of them and stepped back.

He did what Levi told him: Eren stripped down and climbed in the tub. He was washing his hair when he heard it: a quiet murmur of, “You like being clean, huh?”

It was official. Eren was never going to get over how cute Levi was being with the baby. Not everyone got the privilege to witness it, or understand it when it was happening, but Levi was truly caring. It was one of the things Eren loved most about him. The weight on his shoulders that had slowly borne down on him through the years felt lifted watching his family. He never wanted the moment to end.

Of course, it eventually did. Levi dried Luca and put him back in his crib. Eren finished up his bath and after, he added more kindling to the fire under the tub. Levi liked his baths warmer than Eren did. When the water was good and hot, Eren went to fetch his husband. Levi was busy mixing lather in front of the mirror.

“You’re gonna shave your beard off?”

“Hell yeah I am. I look like shit.” He pointed the lather brush at the stool he’d set up. “Sit down, I’ll do you next.”

Normally Eren would leap at the chance. Sometimes he let his beard grow a little so that Levi would do just that. But this time, “I have to leave it this way. Hange’s orders.”

Levi’s nose wrinkled. “Why? Are they still pissed at me for cleaning the mold out of their desk?”

“I don’t think so?” Hange didn’t usually hold grudges when Levi cleaned up their things. Or use Eren to punish Levi when he did. “It’s almost time to infiltrate Marley. I have to make myself unrecognizable; Zeke and Reiner know what I look like.”

“I’m guessing that’s why your hair looks like this?” Levi gestured at his shoulders with his razor. In the time he’d spent away from home, Eren’s hair had grown a lot. The plan called for him to look unkempt, so he’d left in the split ends and jagged bits.

“I want to do my best.”

“Then I’ll leave your face alone.”

Eren didn’t have the heart to tell Levi what else he would need to do to complete the illusion before sneaking into Marley. Just thinking about it made his leg hurt. The sound of Levi’s razor rasping against the strop as he sharpened it was not helping.

Eren retreated to their bedroom so he wouldn’t have to hear it anymore. The crib was pulled up next to Levi’s side of the bed. Eren lied down so he could watch Luca’s little chest rise and fall as he slept. He only realized he’d fallen asleep too when he felt fingers brushing through his hair.

Eren caught the fingers and squeezed them. “I missed you a lot.”

The candles in the room had all been blown out so he couldn’t see Levi. But he could feel when he squeezed back.

“Make room.”

Eren sat up and turned down the blanket so Levi and he could slip under the covers. Instinctively, Eren’s arms wrapped tightly about Levi and finally, _finally_ embraced him after months apart. It had been a long day, full of pleasant and unpleasant surprises, but for four years now this was always a constant in his world: Levi, by his side, supporting him and making him the happiest he’d ever been.

This was perfection. He and his husband had a home and child together. Eren knew he wasn’t going to be with them for very long, but for now, it was heaven.


End file.
